The Ties That Bind
by Laura Tear
Summary: Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake are almost siblings. Their parents have been dating for three months, and have made the step of moving in together. Watch as they and their families learn to live together.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One – Moving Day in the Griffin Family**

Clarke stomped around the house without saying word.

"Clarke, sweetie, I know you're not happy to be moving, but can you at least try to be nice to them?"

Jake Griffin didn't make a habit of pleading with his children, but even since he had started spending time with his girlfriend and her family a year ago they had put up a fight.

"Fine," Clarke snapped, in a manner that indicated she would do anything but.

"Why don't you go bug Lincoln? He's just as pissed as I am,"

"Because your brother is at least trying to behave," Jake sighed in frustration. He had so many other things to worry about that he didn't need his kids and their terrible moods added to his list. "Monty doesn't mind," Jake pointed out, a little hopefully.

"Monty is nine Dad," Clarke rolled her eyes at her father for what possibly could have been the twentieth time that day. Jake had finally had enough of his surly teenagers' behaviour.

"Well Clarke, we're all moving in together so you're just going to have to deal with it."

"The same way you're going to have to deal with raising seven kids?" Lincoln weighed into the conversation as he passed them carrying a box. "I would have thought you'd have been at your wits end with just three of us."

"It's only two of you that give me trouble," Jake sighed and was about to continue but it was at that moment that Clarke's younger brother Monty joined them in the hallway.

"Daddy, there is a man asking for your help," Monty said.

"Alright, I'm coming Monty," Jake Griffin smiled at his youngest son and went to go give directions to the movers.

"I wonder which two he was talking about?" Lincoln smirked at his younger sister.

"He was definitely talking about us," Clarke said, and despite her frustrations she went to find more boxes to move into the truck. She didn't think that she was normally so petulant – in fact normally the only words used to describe her were 'Goody two shoes', 'Class Princess' and 'Geek'. However these were extenuating circumstances. She had met Aurora's kids once, and aside from Jasper she nothing in common with any of them. Except maybe their mutual dislike of the idea of them living together.

Jasper was probably the only one of them Clarke liked, and it was mostly because he was younger and got away with the cute factor. Raven was the next oldest, being 14, and she down right hated Clarke because Finn Collins had taken Raven on a couple of dates and then dumped her and two weeks later he had asked Clarke out. Clarke had said yes, and so far she and Finn were going strong. They'd been dating for nearly four months. Raven wasn't the only one who didn't like Clarke for dating Finn. One of Clarke's school friends, Wells, was pissed as well. His reasons for that dislike remained a mystery to Clarke. Octavia was another mystery to Clarke. She didn't know how she felt about the girl her own age.

Octavia had a rebellious streak but was incredibly driven. She had her sights set on School President, in competition with Clarke, was part of the volleyball, basketball and cheerleading teams. She was also known for getting into a spot of trouble now and again for some of her less than notable extra-curricular activities and Bellamy, the oldest of the Blake children, was well known for getting her out of said trouble – or at least attempting to do so.

Bellamy Blake, now he was an arse if ever there was. He was rude to Lincoln and dismissive of Clarke on the occasion they had met. He'd tolerated Monty because Jasper had taken a shine to him and that appeared to be the only reason. He was overly protective of his two younger sisters, and seemed to ignore his mother.

He was a year younger than Lincoln, who had finished school and was starting college in a couple of months. Clarke didn't know what she would do without her brother around. She'd be stuck with strangers who hated her and liked her younger brother and her dad wouldn't listen because he probably would only talk about how she needed to get along with her new family. It had never mattered to her that Lincoln was adopted; for a little while it had bothered Lincoln but Clarke had always looked up to him and now she felt a little like he was abandoning her in a den of thieves.

"Hang on Clarke, I'll get those. They're a little heavy for you," Lincoln teased his sister as he took over carrying the boxes Clarke had been struggling with. "Don't want you straining a muscle,"

"Stuff you," Clarke grumbled, allowing some of her frustrations out of her brother.

"Maybe when I die," Lincoln chuckled, ignoring his younger sisters' temper. He carried his boxes out to the truck and Clarke trailed after him, much like she had done for the last sixteen years.

A couple of hours later Jake Griffin announced that they were finished loading the last of their things.

"I think we've got time to grab an ice cream on our way to the new place," he smiled at his kids. Monty clapped his hands gleefully.

"Dad, Dad, can I have a double scoop?" he asked cheekily.

"No, you won't go to sleep tonight!" Clarke growled.

Jake Griffin smiled at his son, ignoring his daughter for the moment.

"Of course you can have a double scoop Monty, but just this once. You've worked just as hard as your siblings."

Clarke grumbled to herself, and Lincoln ruffled her hair.

"Calm down Clarke. You could probably use a double scoop as well."

"I'll need it to deal with those freaks," Clarke pulled away and flattened her hair as best she could. Lincoln was always trying to mess with her braids.

"I wish Mum was here," Clarke mumbled, and only Lincoln heard.

"I miss her too little Princess," Lincoln's jovial attitude dropped for a moment and Clarke saw her serious brother. Lincoln was equal parts serious and playful and Clarke liked both sides. When they were little Lincoln had always been her serious knight who would counsel his Princess against letting her stuffed bear armies go to war with the dinosaur legions.

"Time to go," Jake said and the moment between the siblings was finished.

"Shotgun," Lincoln said suddenly and raced for the door.

"Shove off!" Clarke grinned, distracted, and tried pushing him out of the way. "You got shotgun last time."

"I called it. Back seat for you **little** sister," Lincoln made sure he emphasized the word 'little' as he pushed Clarke out of the way and took the seat for Kings in the front of the car.

"I want to ride in the front seat!" Monty protested.

"No," said Clarke and Lincoln.

The drive to the new house was nerve-wracking for Clarke. Even when they stopped for ice-cream, all she could think about was the fact she was going to be living with people who hated her. She managed to eat her double scoop ice-cream, but didn't taste much. When they arrived at the house, Clarke took a deep breath. Her stomach was alive with butterflies. The Blake family was already there. She recognized their van in the driveway. Aurora had sold her old car and bought a van to accommodate all the kids when she and Jake had decided to move in together. Aurora had showed Clarke the van when she had come over for dinner once without her kids. Clarke had nothing against the van, but she didn't like what it meant. Living with the Blake family.

Jake pulled into the driveway and turned to smile at his children.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked, and Clarke noticed her fathers' apprehension for the first time that day. She had been so wrapped in her own fears that she didn't even notice that she wasn't alone in her worries.

"Ready as we'll ever be Dad," Clarke smiled tightly.

"Yeah Dad! Do I get to pick my room?" Monty was probably only person who was utterly thrilled by the move.

"Maybe kiddo, but Lincoln gets first pick because he's the oldest out of all you kids," Jake smiled at his little family that was about to get a whole lot bigger.

"Here goes nothing," Lincoln sighed and pushed the car door open…

_AUTHORS NOTES: I know it's starting with a slightly similar plot of a movie called "Yours, Mine and Ours" but I'll try and keep it different, so just bear with me, it might take a little while to get into the main part. Also, pay attention to the chapter titles because that will dictate whose POV it is. It is mostly going to be Clarke's POV I think, but the plan is for it to alternate a little between her and Octavia just so that we get a little bit of an idea of what is going on in the minds of the Blake family and lastly I have changed some of their ages – please don't hate me!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – Moving Day with the Blake Family**

Octavia Blake ran around the almost empty house looking for her missing sister.

"Raven, get your butt out here!" she yelled.

"Don't yell in the house!" Aurora Blake yelled from another room. Octavia ignored her mother, like she had been ever since her Mum had made her start packing her stuff two days beforehand. Octavia had been protesting the move by refusing to pack her belongings, which had caused a few arguments until finally Aurora threatened that if her daughter didn't pack then she wouldn't be coming with them to the new house and she wouldn't have anywhere to go. Bellamy had been at work during that argument – if he'd heard that threat then he would have told his mother to shove it but Octavia wasn't going running to her big brother for help, she didn't need it, and so grudgingly she had started packing.

Her mum wasn't always so harsh; the last few months had just been especially hard for her. Work kept calling her away on business, which made getting her kids ready for the move had been tough. Bellamy had picked up some of the slack by going grocery shopping and driving them all to school with him and Octavia had been cooking dinner for everyone. Every time their Mum had come back she was exhausted and snappy and Octavia was trying to deal with the move as best she could but with that on top of all her extra activities and cooking meals she felt like she was trapped in her house or at school and had no way of getting out. It made her snappy as well. Under normal circumstances Octavia and her mother were thick as thieves, and under duress both women behaved like peas in a pod.

"I've found her O," Bellamy walked into the room. "She's under the stairs with her radio,"

Octavia groaned.

"Why does she get away with not packing away all of her stuff when Mum gets on my back when I don't?"

"Because you're older than her and are supposed to help look after her," Bellamy walked to his sister's side and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know you and Raven argue all the time, but by this afternoon we're all going to have a bunch of new people to argue with. You and her should cut each other some slack. At least you're both united in your dislike of Mr Griffins' kids."

"I dunno, I didn't mind his oldest one," Octavia smiled cheekily at her brother who frowned.

"O," Bellamy's voice dropped an octave, indicating his dissatisfaction with her remark.

"Oh cut it out Bell, it's not like I'm jumping the guy," Octavia rolled her eyes.

"I hope not," Bellamy growled. "If I ever catch him doing anything to you, he's going to wish he'd never been born."

Octavia ignored her brother's threats. He was always threatening to punish guys she talked about. She loved her older brother more than any other man, though that position was closely contested by Jasper, but just because she loved her brother didn't mean that she always liked him. He was always trying to stick his nose into her business.

"I'm serious Octavia," Bellamy looked annoyed. "The guy is no good. He probably comes from some crazy family…"

"The same one we're moving in with today, so you should be nicer," Raven walked into the room carrying her radio.

"This coming from the girl who has vowed to make your new sisters' life hell?" Bellamy chuckled. He knew Raven, and if Raven wanted to punish Clarke then she would definitely find a way to do it. "Why do you dislike Clarke so much anyway?" Bellamy added, hoping that this time he would get an answer. His youngest sister loved keeping secrets from him. Octavia kept secrets form her older brother as well. It was just about the only way to do anything remotely fun in their household.

"That's my business," Raven said, and Octavia chuckled to herself. She knew why Raven disliked Clarke. Finn had been the boy next door for nearly six years and eventually Raven had asked Finn out. He had agreed and the two of them had gone on several dates together but eventually Finn had broken up with Raven because he couldn't love her the way she wanted to be loved. She was just too young for him. A three-year age gap in older people was nothing, but when the people in the relationship are 14 and 17, the gap was different.

"I don't mind Lincoln and Monty though, they're nice enough."

"What do you think of Clarke, Bell?" Octavia asked, interested. Bellamy hadn't been outright rude to Clarke on the occasion that the kids had all met but he hadn't been nice either.

"A stuck up, know it all Princess," Bellamy replied without pausing to think about it. "But she's dating Finn so I'm told by Miller that I have to at least be civil. Apparently Finn has some passive aggressive punishment waiting for me if I'm 'impolite'."

"What the hell are you kids doing?" Aurora Blake walked into the room at that moment. "Why are you not helping the movers? Unless you want to be sleeping on the floor in the new place, I suggest you get a wriggle on."

"How did anyone fall in love with her?" Raven muttered mutinously as she stomped off to help with the last of the boxes.

"I heard that!" Raven's mother snapped grumpily.

"Come on, we're nearly finished," Bellamy pushed his sister into a nearby room that still had some boxes.

By lunchtime they were finished and on their way to the new house.

"Mum, how many bedrooms does this place have?" Raven asked.

"It's got six baby," Aurora answered, finally a little calmer now that her troops were all in the car and half of the hard work was done.

"Does that mean that some of us have to share bedrooms?" Jasper piped up from the back seat. "Cause in that case, I pick Monty. I don't want to share with Bellamy, he always teases me."

"You need to have thicker skin little man," Bellamy chuckled from the front seat of the new van.

"Yes Jasper, you can share a room with Monty," Aurora smiled at her son using the rear-view mirror.

"I refuse to share a room with Clarke," Raven folded her arms sullenly.

"There is no way I'm staying with Lincoln," Bellamy threw in his two cents.

Aurora sighed. Of course her children would make this difficult.

"Lincoln is leaving for college in a couple of months, so if you did share a room with him then you'd get it to yourself fairly quickly," Aurora pointed out. "But if you kids really feel strongly about it, then why don't Raven and Octavia share a room?"

Raven shot her sister a slightly repulsed look and sighed.

"That's better than the other option," she said, resigned to her fate.

"Lets do that," Octavia smiled, pleased with the outcome. She didn't mind her little sister, and she hadn't been particularly keen to share a room with Clarke. Bellamy wasn't the only one who thought Clarke was a little stuck-up.

The girl played Badminton for heavens sake. She was in one of the school's bands as well, though Octavia didn't have a clue which, and when she wasn't playing her prissy sport or going to her equally prissy music events, she was painting. The girl just screamed 'Princess'. Octavia didn't think that she would be able to get alone with someone like that. She was not looking forward to living with Clarke. Lincoln wasn't an issue partly because he was leaving and partly because he was outrageously good looking. Monty… who knows? He was just a kid after all. He couldn't be worse than her current little brother. The same one who had put on a pair of ski goggles and was now pulling faces at passing cars.

Octavia couldn't help but hope that Monty wasn't as ridiculous. One silly younger brother was more than enough.

They were the first ones to arrive at the house. It was big. Octavia noted to herself that it was supposed to be big. After all, it did have six bedrooms. Hopefully it had more than one bathroom. Octavia tried to consol herself, it probably did.

"Come on kids, lets start helping the movers unload and I'll show you to the rooms that Jake and I picked for you all."

"Can't believe that my mother picked which room I have," Bellamy rolled his eyes.

"It was so that you wouldn't argue with the others. This way everyone just gets what they are given," Aurora said while hopping out of the car.

"Come along troops," Bellamy said. "Lets go kick some Griffin butt,"

"Yes please," Octavia winked at her older brother, who groaned.

"Octavia. You're really going to be the death of him," Jasper suddenly said, all wisdom.

Three of the four Blake kids laughed as the exited the vehicle.

_AUTHORS NOTES: hope you enjoyed meeting the Blake family!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three – The Princess in the Den of Thieves Part 1**

Clarke threw her shoulders back and held her head high. It didn't matter if all the Blakes' hated her. She would be polite, civil, and wouldn't take any of their crap.

"Can I see my room Dad?" Monty asked as the family walked into the house.

"Of course you can Monty, you can go with your brother and sister - I just want find Aurora first," Jake smiled at his son, and then went searching for his new love.

"Clarke, Lincoln – the bedrooms are on the upper floors. Monty and Jasper's room has their names on the door. The other kids should be upstairs already and they'll be able to tell you which rooms are yours," Jake told his kids before he vanished into the depths of the house. Presumably going to the kitchen or lounge room. Wherever the movers were, was the probable location of Aurora.

"Come on, come on!" Monty raced through the house, searching the nooks and crannies and generally exploring his new surroundings.

"I wonder where the stairs are?" Clarke said, shifting her duffle bag onto her other shoulder. It contained her most important belongings, the ones she didn't want to pack.

"Gosh, I would have thought a smarty-pants like you would know something as simple as the location of some stairs," a voice said from behind them. Clarke turned and wasn't surprised to find Raven standing behind her.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to get through," she said and Clarke noticed the box that the girl was carrying.

"I can take that if you like?" Lincoln offered, all sugar, but Raven just glowered at him.

"I don't need your help," Raven turned her nose up at him and walked past the two of them. Lincoln followed Raven, because it seemed like the obvious thing to do and because there was no other way to go. The hallway they were in branched into two front rooms. One was a study, the other a lounge. Clarke was pleased to notice that their upright piano was already settled into it's new home. She hoped that she would get time to play, but with a house as full as this one was going to be she doubted that would happen.

"Dad is making a terrible mistake," Clarke muttered and Lincoln grunted in response. She didn't have clue what that meant. They found the stairs and trudged to the next level. The house had three levels technically, but the third level was a renovated attic that had been turned into another bedroom. It was probably going to be a shared room.

"Oh Good!" Aurora smiled when she saw Lincoln and Clarke. "Hey there, how are you kids?" Aurora gave the both of them a hug and Clarke returned the gesture. She had little against Aurora, she wasn't Abby Griffin but that wasn't Aurora Blakes' fault, but she definitely didn't like the way Aurora's kids had been raised.

"We're fine thanks, just looking for our rooms," Lincoln said. "Oh and I think Dad was looking for you,"

"I'm sure he'll find me up here," Aurora looked happy as she gestured for the two of them to follow her.

"I doubt it, this is pretty big house," Octavia said emerging from a nearby room, just as they had started following Aurora.

"Is there something wrong with a big house?" Lincoln asked, not unkindly.

"Nope, nothing wrong that I can see," Octavia lounged against the doorframe casually and Clarke couldn't help but catch the double meaning in her words. They just spelt trouble. Thankfully Aurora either didn't catch on or chose to ignore it.

"This coming from the girl who is sharing rooms with her younger sister," Aurora said turning to face her daughter.

"Yeah, well I didn't feel like sharing a room with our resident Princess," Octavia's eyes flicked to Clarke and her body language changed slightly. Enough so that it now screamed 'I don't like you.'

"That's rude Octavia," Aurora frowned.

"Oh I'm sorry, is the Princess not used to rudeness?" Octavia rolled her eyes and disappeared back into the room.

"I'm sorry Clarke, she's not normally like this. She's normally quite sweet, she's just mad about the move."

"Its alright Aurora," Clarke shrugged off Octavia's words, trying to ignore them. "I'm more interested to see which room I get," Clarke smiled and noticed that Lincoln was looking unhappy.

"Well Clarke, we thought we might put you upstairs if that's ok? You don't mind the stairs do you?"

"You mean I get the attic?" Clarke asked, the question came out as if she was displeased but it was quite the opposite. Clarke loved the idea of being away from everyone especially if emotions were always going to be tense.

"I'm sorry, you can have one of the lower rooms if you like, I just thought that with Lincoln going away soon, it would be easier if he was on the second floor because then he wouldn't have to move his belongings as far each time he moved," Aurora explained anxiously.

"No, no," Clarke shook her head. "I love the idea of the attic. Dad was talking about how some new big windows were installed and it looks out of the nearby park. I think that sounds great."

"Oh good," Aurora smiled. "Well go have a look, the stairs are over there," she pointed to a round staircase leading up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Clarke thought that there couldn't be a more unique way to enter her bedroom. Plus if she didn't want visitors, she could put a piece of furniture on the top and no one would be able to get in – which would be perfect if she ever had Finn over. Not that she was likely to invite him while Raven was in the house.

"Lincoln this is your room," Aurora was saying, walking off to the left down the corridor. "You're next to your father and I. I hope you don't mind.

"That's fine," Lincoln walked into his new bedroom followed by Aurora and Clarke was left alone in the hallway. She suddenly felt like she had been dropped onto a hostile planet that wanted to kill her, no matter where she turned.

"That's fine by me," Clarke growled under her breath. No way was she going to be bested by a bunch of rebellious teenagers. Depending on how the rest of the day turned out, she might have to go on the offence. This was her home now as well, and she was damned if she was going to let a bunch of Blake's get her way.

She started walking up the stairs but paused halfway up when she heard footsteps.

"Clarke, Clarke – I get to sleep in the same room as Jasper!" Monty grinned at her from the bottom of the stairs.

"That's great for you Monty. I'll have to come and check out your room later when all the furniture is in. I think the movers should be finished in a couple of hours," she smiled at her little brother.

"Can't you come look at it now?" Monty whined a little. He knew he could twist his older sister around his finger when need be.

"Alright," Clarke rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. "Just give me a sec to put my stuff down."

"Are you sleeping up there?" Monty asked, his brown eyes widening.

"That seems to be the plan," Clarke replied as she started making her way up the rest of the staircase. "Want to take a look with me?"

"Hell yeah!" her nine year old brother raced up the stairs behind her. Clarke lifted the trapdoor, accompanied by Monty's comments about how having a trapdoor to one's bedroom was the height of cool-ness, and then ascended the final few stairs.

_Hello lovely readers, thanks for all your wonderful support! I'll try and update again soon. We're going to get into the juicy stuff soon. ;) I think Bellamy and Clarke need to meet each other properly, don't you?_

_Reviews are also always appreciated! _

_LT_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four – The Princess in the Den of Thieves part 2**

Clarke's head emerged in her new room.

"Gosh," was all she said. She was surprised that Octavia and Raven hadn't made more of a fuss about not getting this particular room. It was perfect. At least for Clarke it was. Maybe it wasn't perfect for the other girls.

It was quite a large rectangular room with wooden floors. Clarke made a mental note that she would have to make sure she knew where her slippers were come winter time. On the left was an area that had been partitioned; possibly for storage space, and on the right were the fabled windows that had been mentioned earlier. Clarke wandered of to the windows and was delighted by what she saw. She did indeed have a view to the park next door. It was a lovely park, she concluded. Clarke had always loved painting and drawing, especially nature scenes. Wells had asked her once, if she had to opportunity to live in space and see the planet from above would she take it? Clarke hadn't even thought about it. Never. Her place was here, on the ground, she was a grounder for life. How could she consider leaving the beauty of the trees in Autumn, or the abundance of life in Spring? Finn was different; he loved the idea of space. He was studying so that he could eventually get into NASA and go to the International Space Station. She jokingly called him Spacewalker when he started talking about his future for long periods of time.

"Aww, I want a walk in dressing room!" Monty complained. Clarke turned away from the window and her musings a little sadly.

"What was that Monty?"

"You've got a walk in robe," Monty said, peeping out from behind the partitioned area of the room.

"Really?" Clarke grinned and wandered over to investigate. What a great room.

"You're a proper Princess Clarke," Monty slipped his hand into hers. "Like Rapunzel, living in the top of the tower," he frowned, thinking for a moment. "Does that mean you have to grow your hair really long?"

"No, it doesn't," Clarke shook her head. Her hair was long enough already. Clarke didn't mind when her family or Finn called her Princess, because it was a little inside joke between them all that she was going to try and save the world, like the Princess's she had pretended to be when she was little and because her mum had called her that. She didn't like that the Blake's were now joining in on her nickname.

"It looks a little bare," Monty said, heading back to the stairs.

"The furniture is still coming," Clarke reminded him as they headed back down the winding staircase.

"I want your room when you move out," Monty announced. Clarke laughed.

"You haven't even moved into your room yet,"

"Yeah, but I'm just calling Shotgun first," he said finally.

Clarke chuckled to herself as she descended the stairs. Once they were at the bottom Monty grabbed Clarke's hand and dragged her towards his new room, which was at the opposite end of the hallway to Lincolns' room.

Just as her Dad had said, on the door sat the names 'Jasper & Monty'. Clarke peaked into the room, and found that it wasn't empty. There were a few people in there. Jasper was one, as well a mover and boy with his back to her. It could only be one person. Clarke was tempted to disappear, but she refused to back down from a fight. She'd received a frosty welcome from the other Blake kids, she might as well get the last two welcomes done at once.

She stepped into the room just as the mover and Bellamy finished with their piece of furniture. It looked like the bottom half of a bunk bed.

"Hi Clarke!" Jasper smiled his cheerful smile and Clarke relaxed a little. At least one of the Blake wouldn't be trying to murder her in her sleep. "Monty and I are sleeping in the same room, did you hear?"

"I did, yes. Monty was just telling me. Have you decided which bunk you want?"

"Monty wants the bottom, so I'll take the top. I don't mind," Jasper grinned. "I wanted the top anyway."

Clarke looked away from Jasper in surprise as Bellamy brushed past her without saying a word.

"Hold on a moment Jasper," Clarke followed him into the hallway but gave the mover time to go downstairs before she spoke.

"What, not even a rude hello?" She asked, and Bellamy turned around to look her in the eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry Princess," Bellamy folded his arms and leaned on the banister near the stairs. "Am I throwing your little perfect world into chaos?"

"Not at all, if you don't want to talk to me while we live here, then I'm happy to oblige. I just like to know where I stand," Clarke mirrored his body language by crossing her arms as well. She definitely didn't like the idea of not speaking to someone she was living with, and if she was going to refuse to speak to someone because she was annoyed with them, her father would be at the top of that list. Scratch that, Clarke's mind sidetracked for a moment, her mother was at the top of that list. Stupid woman, if she hadn't died then none of this would have happened.

"Clarke?" Lincoln emerged from his room at that point, and immediately noticed the body language of the two people standing in the hallway.

"Is everything ok?" Lincoln asked his sister, with concern on his face. It briefly reminded Clarke that she had to ask him why he had looked upset earlier, but not now. Clarke nodded in response.

"Just getting to know my new sister," Bellamy sounded slightly sarcastic as he turned and looked at Lincoln.

"She's not your sister yet, we just live together," Lincoln growled, displeasure apparent. "I'm keeping track because I don't want to be related to you," Lincoln finished. Bellamy smirked, and Clarke remembered that he had done that the last time they had met as a large 'family' group. Clearly that was his thing.

"The feeling is mutual," Bellamy replied, eyes locking with Lincolns'. "Oh and one more thing," Bellamy turned deadly serious now, his smirk vanishing as if someone flicked a switch. "Keep your hands off my sister."

Lincoln laughed, and Clarke shivered a little bit. There was something a little off-putting about her brother's laugh.

"Of course, I wouldn't dream of upsetting you Blake,"

Clarke groaned inwardly. She knew her brother, after years of idolizing him and watching him interact with others, she knew his behaviours. That sentence could be taken two ways, but this time it definitely meant the troublesome version, even though he had sounded only slightly condescending. Hopefully Lincoln would change his mind later. She and he needed to have talk tonight. Bellamy scoffed and turned away to walk back down the stairs.

"Oh and Blake," Lincoln added with a smile breaking over his face. "I don't have to make that same warming to you, you know why?"

Clarke frowned at her brother now, but didn't want to ruin his final word.

"Because my sister is much too smart to get involved with someone like you,"

Bellamy had paused while Lincoln got his last word in, but now continued down the stairs apparently ignoring Lincoln's comment. If Clarke hadn't been able to see his face she would have thought little of the effect that Lincoln's words had on her new roommate but because of where she was standing, she caught a brief glimpse of his face before he walked further down the stairs. She could have sworn that Bellamy looked affronted.

More trouble.

"You!" Clarke walked over to her brother and poked him in the chest. "I can look after myself thanks. I don't need you looking over my shoulder,"

Lincoln shrugged.

"Need, probably not, but I like looking after you. Monty never gets into any trouble; he's always on his best behaviour and never needs any looking after. Even after Mum died, he bounced back quicker than all of us."

"That's because he was only five, he doesn't remember her well enough to miss her as strongly,"

"Maybe, but isn't looking after my little sister my job?" Lincoln smiled and looked at the swirling staircase leading to the attic. "Your new room any good?"

"Better than," Clarke smiled, letting him change the topic. "It's got room for my desk, easel and both my bookshelves."

"You'll never come down,"

"Maybe I can put a fridge and a microwave up there as well and just come down for school?" Clarke suggested, a little hopefully.

"I don't think that Dad would let you do that," Lincoln laughed.

Clarke shrugged with a sigh.

"We need to go help Dad and Aurora with all the moving now, instead of just standing around yapping," Clarke took charge of the situation.

"You go get Monty and Jasper, and I'll go and see what I can do to help,"

Lincoln nodded and went off to find the boys while Clarke went downstairs to see where she could lend a hand. Hopefully all the moving would be finished by tonight. She wanted to set up her new room. She wasn't one for making her room pretty with frills and lace, but she loved having her painting and sketches around her. It was time to go and track down said artwork.

_Hello lovely readers, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far. I've been trying to update fairly quickly – mostly because I'm enjoying writing it, and the rest of the reason is because I'm about to start my work week and won't get a chance to do any writing for a little while. Basically what I'm getting at is that I probably won't update again for a couple of days (at least until the weekend –Australian time of course). I'm going to the coast and should be able to do some writing there. Be jealous people. It will be glorious. I'll probably even watch Firefly with some friends and eat popcorn. Possibly even consume a small amount of alcohol (even though my dermatologist says I shouldn't because of my medication). That tells you more about me that I should probably be sharing but who cares! I'll just hope you guys are all nice people. _

_Also, if any of you folks are on Tumblr, feel free to follow me (forgivenessinawhitetulip is the name). You don't have to of course, but I'll be super excited if you do._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five – The Moonlight Painting**

(The One in Which a Painting is Hung)

Clarke found her father, along with Aurora and Octavia downstairs. Raven and Bellamy were, at the moment, nowhere to be seen and Clarke felt a little relieved. Out of all the Blakes, those were the two who seemed to dislike her the most. Octavia didn't appear to dislike Clarke on quite the same level. That being said, Octavia still didn't like her.

"Oh good Clarke, do you like your room?" Jake Griffin smiled at his daughter. He wasn't blind – he knew that out of all the kids, Clarke stood out the most. Lincoln stood out as well, but he had a few things in common with Bellamy – they both loved sports and had a similar protective drive around their family. Octavia seemed to have taken to Lincoln after the first time they met. Jake wasn't worried about anything happening there however. Lincoln was far too sensible for that. Jake had picked Clarke's room, knowing that she would love it, since she needed something to love about her new home. It wasn't quite practical for Raven, because she was still the sort to go rushing head first into danger and not keeping an eye on her surroundings. In the real world, that meant that she was likely to run up the stairs, trip, fall, and injure something. As for Octavia, Jake liked her but knew that the only thing that Octavia would like about the attic was the walk in robe. The view would most likely be wasted on her.

"I love it Dad," Clarke smiled and gave him a hug.

"Your Dad thought you would like it," Aurora smiled at Clarke. "He was quite insistent that you get that room. Though we will have to put some rugs up there, I imagine in winter that wood floor will get quite cold."

"What is the status of the furniture?" Clarke asked, her eyes sweeping the group and passing over Octavia. Clarke noticed that the girl looked a little frustrated. She was probably frustrated at Clarke, for some reason or another.

"Coming," Aurora said.

"We've got Lincoln and Bellamy helping the movers, Aurora is directing them all," Jake explained. "Raven, Octavia, Monty and Jasper are helping with the boxes – though Monty and Jasper just count as one person in terms of muscles I think,"

Octavia chuckled at that.

"We'll probably get you to help them Clarke," Jake smiled at his daughter. Clarke nodded and found her way back to the truck.

The next couple of hours passed in much the same way bread toasts. If Clarke stared at the clock, only five minutes would pass but when she was called to help Jasper and Monty with a box, or to help unpack the kitchen, or to give directions to the movers regarding her bedroom. Raven insulted her three more times over the course of the afternoon, which was every time they spoke. Clarke wasn't surprised. Bellamy just ignored her, and Octavia spoke to her but only in a business-like manner. By the evening Clarke was feeling fed up with the childish behaviour of the Blake siblings. Even Jasper caught on that Clarke was to be treated differently, and he started being rather demanding. Monty came and complained to Clarke about him when they had a moment in Clarke's room.

Clarke told him that she was fine, and not to worry.

Wells sent her a text message that afternoon.

_'__How is the moving going Clarke?'_

_'__Well enough I suppose. I'm not dead yet but I don't like it here,'_

_'__Want me to come and visit?' _Wells asked.

_'__Maybe some other time, I think Dad wants it to be just us tonight. What a pain,'_

Clarke exchanged text messages with him for a little while before being distracted when her artwork was found. Monty excitedly carried the first of it up the stairs, as well as some slightly terrifying news.

"Dad is hanging one of your paintings in the living room, and he's hanging another couple in the entrance,"

"Oh!" Clarke gasped in horror and rushed downstairs.

Her paintings were a reflection of her feelings about certain landscapes – like the park next door. One of her favourites' was one that she had painted for her mother, it also happened to be one of her fathers' favourites. She just knew that he had picked that one, he had been threatening to hang it but she didn't think he was serious which was why she hadn't paid him any heed. She didn't like people she didn't know viewing her work under normal circumstances, which was why she never let the school exhibit anything despite them asking. This particular painting however was special because she had painted it for her mother. She and Abby Griffin had gone camping once; only once having decided that they hated it, and their last night the two of them had been looking up at the stars and the moon through a forested area. It had been hauntingly beautiful, and Clarke had painted that scene for her mother as a present, it had taken her nearly a month. Once her mother had died the painting had been taken off the wall, by Clarke, and hadn't gone back up again. Even though it had been four years, every time Clarke looked at that painting she was reminded of how much she missed her mother. The thought of people who disliked her seeing that painting made her terrified.

She arrived in the lounge room slightly breathless from the stairs and saw to her horror that she had been right. Her 'Moonlight' painting was hanging in the room. Bellamy and Jake were looking at it, seemingly pleased with themselves.

"It looks good, suits the room," Jake was saying.

"Yeah. For a painting, it's not bad. Where did you get it?" Bellamy asked, only to be interrupted by Clarke. Both men turned to face her when she spoke.

"Take it down," Clarke was furious.

"Sweetheart, it's been four years and it's your best work by far. It doesn't deserve to hide in the back for your closet," Jake tried to placate his obviously upset daughter. Bellamy looked a little surprised when he realised that Clarke had painted it, then he had another realization – he had just accidentally complimented Clarke's artwork. Clarke was too angry with her father to care about the Blake boy.

"Just because _you've_ moved on doesn't mean that I have!" Clarke snapped, unable to resist the jibe. Jake looked hurt, and Bellamy suddenly looked very uncomfortable. Clarke realised as her jibe came out that she wasn't just annoyed because she had to live with people who didn't like her, and because her older brother was moving away to college. She was angry with her father for moving on and finding someone else.

"Clarke…" Jake seemed unable to find the right words to say.

"If you don't take it down then I will," Clarke said finally. Jake crossed his arms, in much the same way his daughter had earlier when she was talking to Bellamy, the same Bellamy who seemed to be edging towards the door slowly.

"That is no way to talk to your father young lady,"

"Don't worry, you'll probably have forgotten it soon enough," Clarke said, figuring that if she was in for a penny, she might as well be in for a pound. With that, she marched over to the wall, removed the painting and walked out of the room, internally cringing. She hated herself almost at once of taking her feelings out on her father. In sixteen years the two of them had only had four arguments. Five now.

Clarke walked up to her room, passing Lincoln and Octavia on the way. Lincoln saw her face first, and seemed about to ask her what was wrong until he noticed which painting his sister was carrying. He stayed silent.

Octavia seemed to be a little confused, not understanding the meaning of the painting, but she stayed quiet as well, following Lincoln's lead.

Clarke reached her room a little breathless, those stairs were going to take some getting used too, and placed the painting in the walk-in robe then she stood back and took a grip of herself. She had two choices now. She could sit and sulk in her room, or she could continue helping with the moving. If she stayed in her room then she would definitely be feeding the Blakes' ability to call her Princess. Five minutes wouldn't hurt though. Clarke sat down and rubbed her face, trying not to cry in frustration at her father and anger at herself for loosing her temper.

o.O.o

**_Octavia_** was surprised when Clarke ascended the stairs carrying a large painting and looking distressed. She had been talking to Lincoln and trying to get to know him, not that it had been working, when Clarke had appeared on the stairs. Octavia was intensely curious, but knew better than to ask Clarke what was wrong and there was the worry that if she asked, the girl might start nattering about some prissy little story and Octavia didn't particularly want to hear a silly story.

Clarke paused for a moment when she saw her brother, and Octavia noticed the unspoken exchange between the two of them - particularly the understanding that dawned on Lincoln's face when he noticed the painting. That just made her even more curious. She hated not knowing things like this. When Clarke was up the stairs and hidden in her room, Octavia turned to Lincoln and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"You're beautiful, but if you want to know, you should ask Clarke," Lincoln said to Octavia and on that note he brushed past her and went downstairs to find his father. Octavia sighed in a mix of frustration and delight. Lincoln was devilishly handsome and mysterious. His darker skin set him apart from his adopted family, and his unwillingness to release any information about himself or either his orginial or current family gave him an almost irresistible air of mystery. The fact that Bellamy didn't like Lincoln made the idea of chasing her new roommate all the more enjoyable. Just because she had liked the first half of the Griffin boy's comment didn't mean she liked the second half. She didn't want to ask Clarke. Maybe the youngest Griffin could shed some light on the unfolding drama.

Octavia searched her current floor for either Monty or Jasper but neither was to be seen, so she decided to go downstairs. At that moment the trapdoor to the attic opened and Clarke descended.

'Crap,' Octavia thought. Clarke was probably headed downstairs, which means they would meet on the stairs and have an awkward silent walk. Still… Octavia decided to use it to her advantage. Who better to tell her about Lincoln than his sister? If Clarke would speak to her that is. Octavia almost rolled her eyes at her thoughts. Clarke didn't seem the type to be impolite.

"Hey Clarke," Octavia tried to be nice, figuring she might get more out of the girl if she was amiable.

"No," Clarke brushed past Octavia and started heading for the stairs. Octavia almost laughed. If Raven didn't hate Clarke so much, the two of them would get along well. Raven often reacted the same way when Octavia wanted something.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask you," Octavia followed the girl, determined to get something out of her. Even princesses could talk.

"I'm sure I wouldn't care," Clarke replied.

'Wow,' Octavia thought. 'Little Princess has guts, doesn't mean I like her though.' Octavia made sure she followed her complimentary thought with one that helped her remember that she didn't like Clarke, or at least wasn't supposed too.

"Fine then," Octavia said letting the subject drop with Clarke. If Octavia could use one word to describe herself, the word would be '_determined_'. Just because Clarke wouldn't talk to her didn't mean that Monty wouldn't and if Monty wouldn't talk to her, then he would probably talk to Jasper. Octavia would get her information one way or another.

_o.O.o_

_Hello Everyone, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm sorry that it took me a little longer to write, but luckily I still managed to get it up by my deadline. (My own one). I'll try and make sure I post once a week, but life is going to get pretty busy for me soon so I hope you can all bear with me as the chapters progress. This one is also a little bit longer than my previous chapters, so I hope you like that. _

_Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and follows, I get excited by such events. I love all the feedback that everyone is providing for me, and I'm trying to take it all into consideration. _

_Thanks again lovely readers,_

_LT_


	6. Chapter 6

**_Octavia_** followed Clarke down the stairs, looking for the boys. Clarke went out the front door to move some more boxes and Octavia turned towards the kitchen. As she approached, she spotted Bellamy in the lounge room hanging a painting – presumably a replacement to the one she had seen Clarke carrying moments ago. Perhaps _he_ knew something?

"Hey Bell," Octavia deviated from her path. Her older brother looked over at her.

"O, come here and lend me a hand," he nodded at the picture and Octavia darted over and helped steady the picture while Bellamy made sure it was level.

"What was with Clarke? She passed me on the stairs carrying a painting looking pissed," Octavia didn't beat around the bush.

Bellamy shrugged.

"From what I can gather, it had something to do with her Mum and she didn't want it hung. Otherwise, it beats me," he said.

Octavia sighed and stepped away from the wall at her brothers' signal. It wasn't much information, but it would do for the moment. If it had to do with the girls' mother then Octavia didn't mind relaxing her enthusiasm for the information. As much as the girl was a sissy, Octavia could understand what it was like to loose a parent. It wasn't easy. Octavia had never known her biological father, who was Bellamy's father as well, but she had known Raven and Jasper's father. He had come into their lives when Octavia was a year old, and was the only father figure she knew. His name was William Reyes, and he had been kind. Even though Raven and Jasper were half siblings, Octavia had never felt as though they were any less a part of her family. The same went for Bellamy, he was equally protective of both his sisters, and a good role model for Jasper – at least in Jasper's mind. Bellamy had stepped onto the plate when William Reyes had died in a car crash with drunken driver a year after Jasper was born by trying to be the father figure that Jasper didn't have. At least everyone in this household had something in common. They all knew what it was like to loose someone they loved.

Doesn't excuse sissy behaviour. Octavia rolled her eyes. She and Clarke went to the same school – it was how their parents had met, and even if Clarke was a smidge less silly at home, at school she was a know-it-all. She always received high distinctions for her work, always had her head in a book – except when with her friends or Finn. Clarke didn't have very many of her own friends, Octavia thought as she wandered through the house looking for something to entertain herself since the moving was nearly finished. She had Finn, but that was a different sort of relationship, Wells, and a girl called Tahlia. Wells had a female friend called Glass who was dating a guy called Luke who sat with them during breaks, but Clarke didn't socialize much with them. Clearly the girl was too focused on her books for much else.

Octavia found her mother and Jake talking to the movers in the kitchen.

"Thanks boys, that should be everything," Jake was saying.

The movers packed away their gear, thanked the family for helping with the boxes and before Octavia could truly grasp the situation she was alone in the house with her family, and a group of relative strangers.

Things were going to get interesting from now on.

Raven walked past her older sister and said over her shoulder,

"We should start unpacking our room now, also Mum and Jake said they are going to order out for dinner that way we don't have to worry about cooking."

"What are we having?" Jasper and Monty asked as they raced through the hallway, on an unknown mission.

"Beats me," Raven replied, using the phrase that she had heard from Bellamy.

"I'll go ask Dad," Monty said, and Jasper frowned.

"I'll ask Mum first,"

"Race you?" Monty grinned an impish smile and shot off again. Jasper took off after the other boy.

"Shouldn't they be unpacking their room and making sure they can at least sleep in it?" Octavia shook her head as she followed Raven up the stairs and into their new, shared, bedroom.

"Woah," Octavia groaned when she saw the mess the room was in. She wasn't too fussed if her room was a little messy, and Bellamy always joked that there was nothing wrong with a little chaos but Raven and her Mum were neat freaks. The only part of Raven's room that had ever been messy was her desk – where she tinkered with all sorts of bizarre objects of dubious origin. The months until Lincoln moved to college would be long and painful, Octavia decided. Living with her sister was not an experience she was going to enjoy.

"I'm going to start sorting the boxes, we want to at least find our bed linen before we go to sleep tonight," Raven was going through the pile of belongings without a second thought, while Octavia decided that she just wanted a nap. Didn't seem like that was about to happen anytime soon however.

"Oh, they're right on the top. Good planning Raven," Raven patted herself on the back and then threw a set of bed sheets at her sister.

"Those are yours,"

"Thanks birdy," Octavia caught the sheets and wandered to her bed.

"You know I don't like being called that," Raven grumbled as she sorted.

"Then Mum shouldn't have given you a bird name," Octavia shrugged. "I suppose it's better than Eagle, or Finch or… what's the name of that bird with the blue feet in the Galapagos Islands?"

Raven shot her sister a look; one that all people with siblings would recognize. It was the 'I'm so sick of you' look.

"Oh that's it," Octavia shot a look right back; the 'I don't care' look, accompanied by a smirk. "It's called a Booby!"

Raven threw the nearest object she could find at her sister. Octavia, a girl with fantastic hand-eye coordination, caught it and looked at the projectile.

"Really? You're throwing a box of fuses at me?"

"Be glad it wasn't something heavier," Raven said sullenly.

The two girls fell silent as the minutes ticked while they were unpacking. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a companionable silence – one that said that the two girls had known each other for many years and didn't have to speak in order to communicate. While Octavia unpacked and set her side of the room the way she wanted her mind wandered. She thought about Clarke and the painting, and as Octavia glanced across the room at her half sister, she pondered the relationship that Raven and Clarke would have.

Octavia knew herself fairly well, and knew that even though she thought the girl was a bit of an airhead, she realised that she would at least be on speaking terms with her new roommate – if only to get information about Clarke's hunk of an older brother. Raven on the other hand… She was holding her ground. Her frustrations with Finn for breaking up with her would definitely impact the way Raven interacted with Clarke.

"What are you going to do about Clarke?" Octavia asked her sister, curious.

Raven paused in her tidying and frowned. Sometimes she didn't look like a fourteen year old.

"I'm going to get her and Finn to split," Raven said decisively, after a moment of thought.

Octavia's eyebrows shot up. How serious was her little sister…

"Oh? That's a little extreme don't you think? They have been dating for a while, what is it, four months?"

"Doesn't matter, when I put my mind to it, I can do anything." Raven put her hand on her hips and Octavia was reminded of the time that Raven had built a miniature bomb in the backyard and caused the swing set to explode.

She had been in trouble for that.

Deep trouble.

"Alright then sis," Octavia grinned. If her sister was determined to find trouble, then Octavia wouldn't mind being a part of that. She loved trouble.

"I'll help, but lets make one thing clear," Octavia leaned in, and spoke in hushed tones. "Anything happens and they realise that their split was…nudged, by an outside force, and you're taking the blame."

"Fair's fair," Raven nodded. "What do you want in return?"

"Your help with her brother,"

"What – Monty? What's wrong with him?" Raven looked taken aback for a moment. She rather liked the little tyke. He was quite intelligent and had been asking her about some of her radios' and other mechanical parts earlier when she was ferrying them out of the truck.

"Not Monty you Booby," Octavia rolled her eyes, deciding that she liked the 'Booby' reference. "Lincoln, the older brother."

Raven was suspicious.

"Will Bellamy get mad?"

"There is a high chance of that happening," Octavia smirked. She enjoyed pushing her brother's boundaries. She wasn't a child and could look after herself. She didn't need a brother who was only a year old dictating her every romantic move.

Raven rolled her eyes at her sister and even though she didn't seem pleased about having to help with Octavia's quest, she held out her hand.

"Deal,"

"Sweet," Octavia took her sisters hand and they shook.

"Those Griffin's aren't going to know what hit them," Octavia smiled.

At that moment, there was a knock on their bedroom door and then Jasper and Monty appeared.

"Mom and Jake have dinner," Jasper said.

"Dad wants us to all have dinner together because it's our first night in the house," Monty added.

"We'll be right down," Octavia said and shot her sister another 'sibling' look. This one said 'Perfect opportunity'.

The boys ran off and the two girls followed them downstairs.

_Hello Readers,_

_I hope you liked this week's chapter :) While this is definitely a Bellarke Fic, I'm starting to really want to explore Octavia and Lincoln's relationship._

_Everyone's relationships really. Gosh I'm enjoying writing this.  
>Also, I apologise for initially painting Clarke as a twit. I definitely don't think that. I'm going to start exploring her a little bit more soon. I think part of the reason that she's coming off a little sissyknow-it-all is because that is how the Blake's see her but I'm definitely going to make her start holding her own. Clarke is a badass. _

_Does anyone have anything they would like to see Clarke do to flaunt her 'badass'-ness? I mean, aside from breaking up with Finn cause technically in this universe he hasn't lied by omission. Yet. Maybe he should? What should he lie about?  
>I like it when people send me ideas cause it makes my brain juices start rolling.<em>

_Thanks for reading_

_Love LT xoxo _


	7. Chapter 7

**_Clarke_** looked away from her bookshelf as the trapdoor opened. Her younger brothers' head floated into view.

"Clarke! Dinner is here," Monty smiled at his sister.

"What's on the menu?" Clarke put the books in her hand down and made her way over the stairs. "Tell me its pizza,"

"It's not pizza," Jasper said from his position lower on the stairs.

"Bummer," Clarke sighed. She liked pizza.

Who didn't like Pizza?

"Dad ordered a mix, Thai and Indian. Aurora went and collected the food while we were all unpacking," Monty explained as his sister joined him on the stairs, making sure to shut the attic door behind her.

"Sounds good to me," Lincoln said, emerging from his room – having overheard most of their conversation.

"Me too," Jasper said a little shyly. He wasn't used to being around many older boys. Bellamy usually went out with his friends and it had taken a month for Jasper to get used to Jake. Jasper did get along with Finn however, from their days of living next door to each other. It was something Finn had mentioned to Clarke. The four of them filed down the stairs and made their way into the kitchen where they found the rest of the household.

"Oh Good, I was wondering when we could get started," Raven said a little coldly, looking at Clarke.

"Hush now Raven, it's not as if you've been waiting long. You've been down here about a minute longer," Aurora sighed at her petulant child. Clarke didn't meet her father's eyes, realizing that she was the other petulant child at the moment.

"Clarke, phone," Jake held out his hand. Clarke knew the rules. If she had spoken to her father without raising her voice she would have been fine, but because she had raised her voice the rules were simple. No phone for the next 24 hours. If she complained, it would be 48. Not wanting to argue with her father in front of everyone, she silently handed him her phone and then went to feed herself. Clarke noticed that both Octavia and Bellamy saw the exchange; she also noticed that the two siblings exchanged a look. It was a look that she couldn't read.

She was sick of these people already and stuck in a situation she had no control over. Now, to add to that, she couldn't even contact Wells, Finn or Tahlia. She'd been on the phone with Finn earlier complaining, and he had asked her if she wanted to come to his place – he and the others were having a party.

Clarke didn't mind parties. Hell, who was she kidding, she loved them. She just found it hard to get away from her family, especially being the only girl. Her brothers and father always kept an eye on her, and wanted her to stay home. As Clarke took her seat at the new, larger, dining table she pondered the prospect of being able to sneak away instead. Her Dad sure wasn't going to let her go to party after her earlier behaviour – even if he was always complaining that she worked too hard. Clarke eyed her fellow inmates as they all took their seats. Maybe she would be able to sneak away tonight. Her Dad would go to bed relatively early, tired from the moving. Clarke looked at Lincoln thoughtfully, pretending to listen to the conversation. Lincoln wouldn't notice either; he'd probably do the same. Monty and Jasper definitely would go to bed soon, Clarke noted their yawns and sleepy eyes. She was pretty sleepy as well, but after her hard day and the painting drama she could use some fun.

It was the eldest Blakes that she had to look out for. They were her curveball. She didn't have clue what their habits were. Clarke was pulled away from her thoughts when she noticed that the oldest of the Blake siblings was looking at her in a strange way. Almost the same way she had been looking at him she thought. As if there was something they were trying to figure out about the other. Clarke and Bellamy realized at the same moment that they were staring at each other and quickly broke eye contact. Clarke decided to start paying attention to the conversation so that she wouldn't make eye contact with Bellamy in quite the same way again.

"How long is it until school starts back?" Aurora was asking her kids.

"A couple of months," Raven answered.

"We start back the same time that Lincoln goes to college," Clarke decided to add her two cents to the conversation.

"I think there might be a week in between," Jake said, thinking aloud. At first the dinner conversation flowed smoothly because the parents were asking everyone questions. After about ten minutes however, it seemed that they had run out of questions and their tired brains were having trouble of topics to discuss.

"So Lincoln," Raven piped up, "which University are you going to?"

"Yale," Lincoln's reply was monosyllabic, but everyone looked impressed; even Aurora, who already knew.

"That's impressive," Octavia said, voicing the thoughts of the Blake siblings. Clarke's eyes wandered over the three oldest siblings. Jasper was still a little bit young for thinking about university, but obviously the others had. Bellamy in particular stood out, for his reaction was interesting. Clarke could have sworn that he looked a little taken-aback.

Lincoln shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not as good as Clarke's ambitions," he replied, trying to steer the topic from himself. Clarke tried to kick her brother under the table but wound up kicking the wrong person. She knew when Octavia jumped in shock and looked around. Clarke realized that her sheepish and embarrassed face gave her away quickly. Octavia frowned at her.

"Sorry," Clarke said in a hushed tone, "I was aiming for him," she nodded at Lincoln.

"Why?" Octavia rubbed her leg, looking annoyed.

"What are Clarke's ambitions?" Jasper was asking, interested in the conversation momentarily.

"Don't kick my brother," Octavia warned, catching that whatever Clarke had tried to kick her brother for was related to the topic, and Clarke rolled her eyes in reply. As if she would purposely kick a kid.

"You girls better be behaving," Jake said from the other end of the table, not quite catching what the two girls were saying.

"Clarke keeps saying that she wants to go to Harvard," Monty announced, a little louder than he needed too, wanting to impress his new friend just a little.

"She's certainly got the marks," Jake acknowledged proudly. Clarke sighed; she didn't like flaunting her marks. Everyone knew that she was smart, she didn't like rubbing it in their faces – especially because it made her seem less likable to some. She surreptitiously glanced at the faces around the table. Lincoln looked proud and possibly a little smug that he had changed the topic. The bastard. Monty and Jasper didn't look like they cared at all. Raven looked like she was trying to not care, Octavia was visibly impressed while rubbing her leg. She now seemed to understand the kick, maybe - she was hard to read.

Bellamy looked like he wanted to sink into his chair. Clarke couldn't figure out why.

At that moment however, Jasper and Monty yawned quite loudly.

"I think it's time you boys went to bed," Bellamy said, changing the topic, his older brother side showing. Aurora nodded in agreement.

"I think so," she said. "Come on boys, let's go see if we can find your pajamas."

"Lincoln, Clarke, do you two mind doing the dishes?" Jake asked.

"I'll help," Octavia offered politely.

Clarke frowned, suspicious. She wasn't the only one surprised by Octavia's offer. Bellamy and Raven looked suspicious as well.

"That's kind of you to offer Octavia," Jake smiled in reply. "In that case we'll leave the cleaning up to the three of you,"

"I'll help as well," Bellamy jumped in.

Raven folded her arms across her chest. She clearly didn't want to help.

"Raven, you might as well help too, that way everyone gets to go to bed sooner," Aurora nudged her daughter as she herded the two sleepy boys from the room, Jake quickly followed, not wanting to be caught in the cleaning duty.

Raven looked unimpressed that she had been roped into the task.

"Lincoln and I can wash and dry," Clarke said, deciding to take charge of the band of cleaners that had appeared. "Bellamy and Raven could clear the table and Octavia can find somewhere to put everything,"

"Actually, I think that Octavia and Raven should clear the table," Bellamy argued. "I can find somewhere to put everything."

Tension was building since Bellamy clearly felt strongly about his point, and Clarke was almost prepared to fight to have it her way, if only to annoy the older boy. The tension was broken by Raven snorting.

"You? Organizing? As if," she said.

"Yeah, Bell, I'm perfectly capable of putting away a few dishes," Octavia put her hands on her hips.

Clarke shot her brother a concerned look. Doing the dishes should not be a complicated task. Lincoln blinked at his sister and nodded slightly. He knew what she was talking, or not talking, about. He stepped forwards and cleared his throat.

"Perhaps then, we should have the girls in the kitchen and Bellamy and I can clear the table," he suggested.

Clarke frowned. She didn't like that suggestion. Raven and Octavia didn't seem to like it either. Bellamy on the other hand nodded in agreement.

"That's incredibly sexist of you," Raven pointed out.

"We can swap tomorrow night," Lincoln suggested, not apologizing for his comment. He hadn't intended it to sound sexist, and he wasn't the sort to argue the finer details of his use of the English language.

With the decision regarding the allocation of labor made, everyone set to work. Bellamy and Lincoln certainly had the easiest job.

"I'll wash, you dry," Clarke suggested while looking at Raven.

"Actually Raven is good at organizing, we should her get to find places for the plates and cups," Octavia suggested.

Clarke was secretly grateful that she didn't have to stand next to Raven while she worked. She didn't want to be bombarded by questions about Finn. Finn didn't talk about Raven much. He'd spoken about her a little when Clarke told him that she was moving in with the Blakes. He'd said that Raven was great and that he loved her, especially because he'd known her for such a long time. He'd also said that it didn't take him long to realize that he didn't love her the way she wanted him to love her. He couldn't stop himself seeing her as a little sister, or a close friend and so he had broken it off with her before she got too involved.

It would seem that he hadn't been quick enough. Clarke felt bad that she couldn't quite see Finn's view that she was nice. Thus far, Raven had only come across as slightly rude.

"Harvard huh?" Octavia commented, striking conversation as she dried. Clarke nodded.

"Dad is sure that I'll get in, but I don't know if I will but Mum always said that you should aim high, that way even if you miss, you land among the stars," Clarke explained, surprised that she had given over that information willingly.

"Explains the nighttime painting you were carrying earlier," Octavia said making a connection that few people had.

"Yeah," Clarke agreed in part because that phrase was something she had thought about while painting, and also so that she couldn't have to get into a discussion about that particular painting.

"Your older brother said he liked it before he realized who painted it," Clarke tried to say something that would make the girl next to her chuckle. It worked, and off to the side Raven outright laughed.

"Bellamy said that?" Raven said incredulously.

Clarke nodded.

"I might have to take a look at this painting if it can get that kind of response from him. That guy has about as much creative energy as a brick," Raven commented as Bellamy walked into the kitchen carrying more plates.

"You said you liked a painting?" Octavia grinned at her brother. Bellamy shrugged.

"I said it was ok, for a painting," he replied while ensuring he didn't make eye contact with Clarke as he handed her his pile of dishes. They'd made quite enough eye contact tonight.

"What are you planning on studying then, if you're thinking of going to Harvard?" Octavia asked.

Bellamy hung around to hear the answer.

"Medicine, at least that's what it was last time I checked," Lincoln answered for his sister as he entered the room with more plates.

"I can answer a question," Clarke frowned.

"You spend all day at school answering questions," Octavia rolled her eyes, thinking of the girl's know-it-all behaviour. "Surely having someone else answer the question won't kill you."

Clarke's frown deepened. She couldn't tell if the girl was being rude, or teasing.

"To be fair, you did ask Clarke," Lincoln smiled at Octavia, who seemed to melt.

"That's true," she said agreeably. Clarke rolled her eyes at their behaviour, and almost laughed as she noticed Bellamy doing the same thing, though he seemed to be doing it through gritted teeth.

"Are you going to go to bed soon?" Clarke asked her brother, her mind wandering back to her escape plan. He shook his head.

"No, I'll stay down here – wouldn't want to leave you to the wolves,"

"I resent that," Raven said.

"That's because you're a Booby, not a wolf," Octavia fired back without pause.

Raven looked like she wanted to throw something at her sister; something heavy.

"Booby?" Bellamy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a bird," Clarke couldn't stop herself, "from the Galapagos Islands,"

"With blue feet," Lincoln threw in.

"Appropriate," Bellamy nodded.

"Shut up," Raven growled everyone else in the room. She did not look impressed.

"Sorry," Clarke said. She didn't want to make Raven dislike her more than she already did. Raven rounded on Clarke.

"If you are going to apologise to me for anything, you damn well shouldn't apologise for that, you cow!" Raven threw the plate in her hand at Clarke, and luckily Octavia had decent reflexes because she plucked the projectile out of the air before it could reach its intended target.

"Raven!" Octavia and Bellamy said simultaneously, both shocked by their sister's behaviour. "That is not acceptable!" Octavia added.

"You stole him!" Raven snapped.

"No I didn't!" Clarke was damned if she wasn't going to defend herself against this attack, "and I think you know that, otherwise you wouldn't be so angry. You're angry with yourself because you're too young, and I'm not apologising because I didn't do anything wrong," Clarke snapped right back.

"Your sister looks pissed," Lincoln said quietly to Bellamy on the sidelines.

"Your sister has that effect," Bellamy replied.

They weren't helping.

"Be quiet Bell," Octavia told her brother. Bellamy gestured to Lincoln as if to say 'What about him?'

"He's gorgeous, he can do whatever he likes," Octavia shrugged. Bellamy didn't look impressed. Lincoln looked a little proud. Clarke sighed internally; her brother could be such a jock sometimes.

Raven rolled her eyes, groaned loudly in frustration and stamped out of the room.

"What a brat," Octavia said. "She's worse than Jasper,"

"Why was she so pissed? She doesn't throw stuff much anymore. I thought she'd grown out of that habit," Bellamy asked the two girls.

Clarke cast a sideways glance at Octavia, unsure what to say. If Bellamy didn't know what they were talking about, there was probably a reason.

"Clarke is dating Finn, you know that right?" Lincoln clearly missed that there was something here Bellamy wasn't meant to know. Maybe it was a girl thing.

"Mmm, I don't like the guy much. He's a coward,"

"He is not a coward!" Clarke leaped to her boyfriend's defense.

"Anyway," Lincoln didn't want to have to deal with another argument. "Raven and he went on a few dates a couple of weeks before Clarke and Finn got together."

"What?" Bellamy blinked several times, his face darkening slightly. Clarke heard Octavia groan softly beside her. It was a reaction Clarke could sympathize with.

"Well, we're finished the dishes now. I'm going to…go," Clarke tried to escape but no dice.

"Wait a minute," Bellamy held up his hand. "You're telling me that Raven went on a couple of dates with Finn and then you and he hooked up?"

"My sister has not 'hooked up' with anyone," Lincoln growled, unimpressed by Bellamy's language.

"Finn broke it off with Raven before anything happened," Clarke defended her boyfriend again. "She is three years younger than him."

"Raven's better than that, she doesn't deserve someone that would dump her for another girl," Bellamy leaned back in the chair he was sitting on.

Clarke threw her sponge at him without warning. It got Bellamy smack in the face, and soap suds splattered across his freckled nose and he looked shocked as he wiped the dirty dishwater suds away.

Clearly this household was rubbing off on her already, and it had only been half a day she'd been here.

"That is my boyfriend that you are talking about. Show some respect," Clarke said angrily. She'd already had someone throw a plate at her and imply she was a tramp tonight, she was damned if she was going to let a guy she hardly knew insult her boyfriend and her choice to date him.

"Alright that's enough," Lincoln stood up. "I am sick of people throwing things. We're all tired, we've had a long day and we don't all get along well to begin with. Clarke you should go to bed." Lincoln told his sister in a tone that said there was nothing to argue about.

"Now Bellamy, do not insult my sister's choices. She might be younger than you but that doesn't mean that she any less worthy of respect. Just because she is different to you does not mean that I will stand by and let you insult her and her decisions. You would be the same if I started insulting your sister…"

"Come on," Octavia grabbed Clarke's arm. "Lets get out of here, there is going to be a testosterone match I can tell. Bell won't let that go,"

The two girls left the room quickly and their departure seemed to go more-or-less unnoticed.

**Note: Sorry to everyone who tried to read this chapter earlier, there was a problem which I have hopefully now rectified.**

_Hi lovely readers, I hope you liked this update. It's a fair bit longer than my previous chapters. Thank you everyone for all your fantastic ideas. There are so many good ones, I don't know if I'll be able to use them all but I'll try and keep them in mind while I'm writing. I'd also like to apologise if Raven seems bratty in this chapter. I've given it some thought, and I think that because Raven always got picked first at everything, I can see her being a little demanding in her main puberty years so she is a little bit out there particularly with this because she sees that Clarke got picked instead of her. _  
><em>The other thing is that I'm going to be going on holidays for three weeks from the 1st to the 22nd of November. I mention this because I'm going overseas which means I may encounter some issues with updating. If I do, don't worry, I promise I'll keep writing as much as I can while I'm away and I'll try and post any missed chapters in quick succession. Long plane flights are great for writing. Where am I going you didn't ask? Why I'm going to Nepal, Bhutan and India. It will be awesome. I'm super keen. The only thing I'm not keen about is the fact that I won't be able to watch The 100 as it airs! I'll just have to stay away from Tumblr to avoid spoilers. <em>  
><em>Oh oh last of all (sorry guys) what should Lincoln study? I don't know. Medicine? Some sort of Environmental thing... Can't really see him doing theatre tbh.<em>


	8. Chapter 8

**The Party Part 1**

(The One with the Breakout)

_HI EVERYONE, In Octavia's indelible words (almost) - I'm Back Bit**es! - In the paragraph below is my list of excuses for the delay in updating. If you just wanna ignore that then go ahead. Its fine. :)_

_I am dreadfully sorry about the delay. My holiday was fantastic but I really didn't get time to do any writing even on the plane because I discovered that my battery only lasts for an hour and I really wanted to watch The Flash - so I was a little torn (The Flash won that battle I admit). Then when I got home my parents had sold their house and are getting ready to move to another country so we're super busy with that and of course, go figure, we had a massive storm hit the city and even though our place was relatively unscathed we got hit by a couple of power surges that fried our internet modem (and other things) and so tonight we got our internet back and first thing I'm doing is updating. I hope you like the chapter. I've got the next bit half written so I'll try and update soon. _

_Thanks to everyone who has left such lovely reviews in my absence. xoxo LT_

**_Clarke _**allowed Octavia to shepherd her from the room.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Clarke asked once they were in the hallway. Octavia shrugged.

"Well, initially it was because I thought I could get to know your brother a bit better if you liked me, but anyone who throws a dirty dish sponge at my brother's face is ok in my books. If you've got the guts to do that, you're probably not as much of a wimp that everyone at school says you are."

"They call me a wimp?" Clarke looked taken aback.

Octavia raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come on, are you really surprised? All you do at school is sit around and read books, or paint, or play badminton, which just oozes wimpiness."

"It does not," Clarke said petulantly, "Besides, that isn't everything that I do."

"Oh?" Octavia put a hand on her hip.

"I can be fun," Clarke grumbled.

Octavia laughed, she seemed to be warming a little to Clarke.

"It's ok, I get it. Some people just don't like going to parties."

"I love going to parties! I even got invited to one tonight," Clarke didn't know why she felt like she had to prove something to this girl especially when that girl had just told her that the reason she had started being nice was to extract information.

"I don't see you going to it though,"

"That's because Dad probably wouldn't let me go,"

"...My Mum probably would," it took Octavia a moment to respond to Clarke's latest comment. "I tell you what. I'll ask Mum if we can go to this party of yours – and it better be a good party otherwise we're leaving and then you can fill me in on your brother," Octavia bargained.

Clarke held out her hand.

"Deal," she agreed.

"You're not wearing that to a party are you?" Octavia glanced at Clarke's attire.

"I could say the same to you," Clarke replied. Both girls were wearing clothes that were suitable for moving house, but not as suitable for going out into society.

"I'll go ask Mum, you change," Octavia turned and walked away to find her mother and Clarke dashed off to her new room. Maybe living here wouldn't be as terrible as she had thought this morning.

She searched her closet for something acceptable to wear – a slightly difficult task considering some of her belongings were in boxes. Eventually Clarke pulled a red and cream a-line dress and a pair of black heels from the depths of her boxes. Octavia poked her head through Clarke's trapdoor without warning, giving Clarke a start.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" She frowned indignantly.

"Mum says that it's fine, but she wants Bell to drive us, that way we don't have to catch a cab… That looks hot by the way," Octavia nodded at the dress in Clarke's hand as an afterthought. "I didn't know that you had anything like that in your cupboard."

"That's because you don't know me," Clarke stated, not unkindly. She wasn't accusing the girl for her lack of knowledge, after all the same could be said regarding how much Clarke knew about Octavia.

"Hopefully I'll get to know your brother pretty well soon," Octavia winked at Clarke. "Oh, I told Bell that we would be ready in about twenty minutes, gives him time to finish arguing with your brother and I wasn't sure how long it takes a Princess to get ready."

Clarke ignored the jibe. She was used to it; it happened a fair bit at school.

"Ok," she said and Octavia disappeared from view. Clarke groaned when she was alone. She didn't like the idea of Octavia's older brother driving her anywhere. He wasn't a particularly interesting person, at least he didn't seem to be, and she didn't think she could bear to make conversation with him especially after his earlier insinuations; maybe she could invite Lincoln along for the drive – Octavia probably wouldn't mind.

While Clarke was debating how to deal with her troublesome male roommate, she dressed. She wiggled into her dress, which landed halfway down her thigh and was magnificently figure hugging; she had to watch how much she ate and drank when she wore it otherwise the dress could become uncomfortably tight. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun, with a few stray strands of hair framing her face. Clarke grabbed her clutch – minus phone, and made her way down the staircase with her shoes in hand. She wasn't brave enough to navigate her winding staircase in heels just yet. As her feet touched the landing one of the doors further down opened, and Monty wandered out into the hall. He looked surprised to find his sister in anything other than pajamas.

"Are you going out?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Clarke nodded with a smile.

"Are you going to come home?" Monty looked worried this time.

Just after their mother had died Monty had clung to his family, panicking that whenever anyone left they might not come back. Moving to a new house and being around new people must have made some of his old fears resurface. Moving was a stressful event.

"Of course I'm going to come home," Clarke gave her tired brother a hug. "I love you, don't worry. I'll be back late, but I'll come and visit you first thing in the morning that way you know I'm ok."

"Ok," Monty looked suspicious; still unsettled, but he returned his sisters' hug and then continued his nighttime visit to the bathroom.

"All ready?" Octavia emerged from her room and whistled quietly in an attempt to not alert Jake Griffin that his daughter was flying the coop. "I can see why Finn is dating you," Octavia chuckled.

Clarke smiled a little smile, pleased that she had earned the other girl's approval at least in some regard. She wasn't normally the type to care what others thought of her – her lack of interest in what her fellow students called her when she wasn't around was an indicator, but she wanted to get along with the people she had to live with. It made life far simpler and now that the girl had started opening up a little Clarke didn't mind her so much. Rather, Clarke thought she could probably grow to like Octavia if things carried on the way they were.

"I'm surprised you don't have a boyfriend yet," Clarke returned the compliment and for a second she hoped that her older brother would stay exactly where he was – which was away from them. She didn't want to have to deal with Lincoln and Octavia as an item. She could definitely see them as an item; Octavia was her brothers' type.

Her long brown hair had been twirled into a bun – similar to Clarke's hairstyle. If they had more time to get ready Clarke suspected that Octavia might have spent more time on that part of her body. Octavia was wearing a short-sleeved black dress that flowed up into a lace choker collar and just below the collar it had small slit in the front, intended to give a hint of what was beneath. She looked great, and Clarke knew her brother would think so too.

"Ok, lets go," Clarke wanted to get out of there partly to avoid her brother, partly her father, and to get the drive with Bellamy over. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"I'll go check if Bell is in his room," Octavia turned around to get her brother and suddenly paused.

"What's wrong?" Clarke asked, noticing her pause.

"Nothing. I just forgot which one it was for a second," Octavia muttered.

Clarke didn't say anything but both girls were thinking about how they would rather be back in their own homes at that moment.

Octavia knocked and then opened her brother's door only to find that he wasn't in his room.

"He's probably still arguing with Lincoln," she surmised, "Come on, lets go downstairs and check."

Octavia seemed pleased that she might be able to Lincoln before leaving. Clarke couldn't help but feel a little protective of her brother at that moment. He wasn't just some conquest, he was her big brother and she wasn't sure that she liked the idea of Octavia dating him, or even crushing on him.

Still, it had only been a day. Octavia's infatuation would probably pass. Clarke just hoped that it passed quickly.

The two girls navigated their way down the stairs and at the bottom the both donned their shoes.

"Do you need to tell anyone that we're coming?" Octavia asked, offering her mobile phone to Clarke, who shook her head.

"I'll just surprise everyone," she said, thinking about how surprising it would be for her friends when she arrived with Octavia. The two girls usually swam in different circles.

At that moment, Bellamy walked out of the living room. He noticed the two girls and then did a double take.

"What the hell?" he looked shocked, either by their attire or by the fact that they appeared to be doing something together.

"We're going out. Mum said you're driving us," Octavia informed her brother. Bellamy frowned.

"What if I refuse?" he protested, seemingly against the prospect of his younger sister going out partying with a girl he barely knew.

"Don't be an arse Bell. Mum said that we can't catch a cab, and it's not as if you have anything important on tomorrow so you could drive us," Octavia argued.

"You guys should be in bed after the day we've had. Besides, isn't the Princess grounded? I saw your dad take your phone," Bellamy raised an eyebrow at Clarke.

"Since when did someone of your reputation care about rules?" Clarke was as skeptical as Bellamy appeared to be.

Bellamy looked like he both proud of his reputation and annoyed at that moment. It clearly wasn't helping him in this situation.

"I could always ask Lincoln to drive us," Octavia threatened – knowing full well that the reason her brother didn't want her going to the party was so that she couldn't hook up with anyone.

Bellamy glared at his sister, clearly hoping she would back down, but Octavia met his gaze unwaveringly.

"Let me get the keys," Bellamy relented and walked into the kitchen to find the car keys. Clarke grinned and wondered whether that would work with Lincoln. Possibly, but she had some more reliable ways of getting her brother to do things for her.

"Lincoln loves boxing," Clarke decided to divulge something about her brother, hoping that she wouldn't be encouraging the girl too much. Octavia turned surprised, and asked Clarke to repeat herself.

"Oh?" Octavia paused thoughtfully when she'd heard Clarke.

"But he hates watching it; he says it's stupid just sitting around watching people beat each other up," Clarke rolled her eyes as she thought about her brothers rants. Octavia laughed at that.

"I can agree with that. It's much more fun playing the game rather than watching."

"Lets go," Bellamy returned, waving the keys and looking put upon.

"Thanks big brother," Octavia gave him a smile and then a hug. Bellamy grunted, still annoyed but Clarke noticed him smile a little. Major soft spot for Octavia, she noted. He and Lincoln had more in common than they probably realised.

"Come on Princess, wouldn't want to keep you waiting," Bellamy did not give Clarke the same smile he had given his sister.

'How immature,' Clarke thought, ignoring the Blake boy's less than amicable behaviour. If he wanted to be standoffish and not to mention rude - as he had been earlier, then he could. Clarke wasn't going to play that game.

That was when Lincoln walked into the hallway. He must have been hiding in the new lounge room. Clarke winced and hoped for the best.

Lincoln gave both girls a shocked once over.

"You look nicer than you should for an evening with your pillow Clarke. Do I need to give it the talk?" Lincoln scratched his head, bemused.

"I'm going to Finn's house – he said that he was having a party earlier,"

"I'm all for you going out - you definitely need more of a social life. I'm just not so sure about you doing it at the moment. Didn't Dad ground you?"

"All he said was for me to give him my phone. Technically he can't get mad," Clarke defended herself. Octavia and Lincoln smiled.

"You should be a lawyer, not a doctor," Octavia chuckled. "Come on! I'm all dressed up now – I don't want to just stand in a hallway."

Lincoln walked over to his sister and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Be safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do," he warned before making his way up the stairs without a second glance at Octavia. Clarke noticed the girls' disappointment and couldn't help feeling bad for her. Even though she didn't want Lincoln to start making out with their new housemates Clarke didn't wish sadness upon the girl.

The trio tromped out of the house, and Clarke made sure she was the last one out so she could shut the door quietly. She glanced at her watch, which informed her it was now 10:30pm. She could feel twinges of fatigue from her busy day, but was determined to prove that she could bend the rules with the best of them. Plus, Clarke wanted to see her friends. She had spent the day around a group of people who had been largely rude to her – still were in fact, with the exception of Octavia and who knew about her. Clarke hadn't finalized her conclusion regarding Octavia. Clarke wanted to spend some time with people she liked.

A few moments later Clarke was surprised to find that Bellamy had his own car, but she wasn't entirely sure why she was surprised.

"Shocked that I can drive?" Bellamy asked as he opened the door for his sister. Clarke shook her head, and tried to be polite to the person who had insulted her not an hour ago.

"I took you more for a motorcycle type to be truthful," she said and took a step forward to enter the car after Octavia who had slid to the opposite side of the car, only to have the boy shut the door before she could.

Jerk.

"Motorcycle's aren't my style," he said.

Bellamy walked around to the drivers' side door, ignoring Clarke's disapproving look. Clarke didn't need a boy to hold a door open for her – though it was always polite when they did, but slamming the door in her face was totally uncalled for. She pondered how to proceed behaviour-wise while she opened the door and stepped into the car. Lincoln wouldn't behave like a surly twelve year old if he was the one driving; why was Bellamy? His earlier comment implying that she was the sort of girl that would knowingly date a boy who cheated sprang to mind and Clarke tried not to frown. She didn't want her driver to think she was angry – he might get the wrong idea and think she was angry about the door.

"Why not?" Clarke asked as the car pulled out from the curb.

"Why not what?" Octavia asked, having missed the proceeding statement.

"Why aren't motorcycles' Bellamy's style? I thought they would be,"

Octavia's face fell a little, and in that moment Clarke remembered a conversation she'd had with Wells nearly a year ago about the Blake family, something about their dad being in a head on collision. Clarke could put two and two together, and she wondered how she could change the topic quickly without making it seem awkward.

Octavia smiled suddenly, a slightly wicked smile and said.

"I guess Bellamy isn't as much of a bad-ass as he liked to tell people he is."

There was a grunt from the front seat before Bellamy said,

"You said that you're going to Finn's house correct?"

"Yep," Octavia smiled and banged on her brother's shoulders gently so as to not distract him too much. "Hurry up, I haven't been to a party in ages."

"Are we going to catch a cab home?" Clarke asked Octavia, thinking about how she needed to be home in the morning. Her dad might find out about her adventure anyway, but if she were at home in the morning he wouldn't mind.

"I'll collect you," Bellamy said in more of a statement than an offer. It would seem that he liked to make sure his sister got home safely.

"Thanks big brother," Octavia leaned back into seat after ruffling her brother's hair. Bellamy didn't say anything but Clarke saw him smile a little.

At least Bellamy was nice to someone, so he was clearly capable of such a feat.

Clarke and Octavia talked about nothing on the car ride over. If Clarke were asked later to recall their discussion, she wouldn't have been able to offer many details.

When they arrived at the house all the lights were on and music was playing, loud music.

"It's like the boy waited for us to leave before throwing a decent party," Bellamy said, peering out of the window. Octavia 'mmm'd in agreement.

"I'll meet you at the door, I just want to talk to Bell for a sec," Octavia said to Clarke who nodded and hopped out of the car, pausing to say thank you to Bellamy for driving them. He just grumbled something about how he wasn't doing it because he wanted too.

_Thanks again folks! Also, if you're feeling loving and cheery, you can follow me on tumblr. My tumblr name is forgivnessinawhitetulip. (It's a Fringe reference!) _


	9. Chapter 9

**_Octavia_** watched Clarke walk towards the door of the house before turning to her brother.

"Thanks for driving us Bell," she smiled. Her brother raised an eyebrow at her.

"You think you can have fun with her?" Bellamy was referring to Clarke.

Octavia shrugged.

"Like I said to her, anyone who can throw a sponge in your face probably isn't so bad part of the reason I don't talk to her is because I don't know her, this seems like a good opportunity to change that. She doesn't seem like she's the type to get worse on better acquaintance. Plus Raven asked me to get the scoop on her and Finn and this might be a good opportunity."

Bellamy frowned at that.

"I can't believe that Raven and Finn went out. Raven knows how I feel about the guy,"

"What are you talking about – you get along with Finn just fine Bell. Sure you argue sometimes but I've never heard you say you dislike him before tonight." Octavia was referring to Bellamy's cutting words earlier.

"That was before he dated my sister that is three years younger than him. He's alright for friend material, but definitely not boyfriend material; you should tell Clarke that by the way," Bellamy chuckled before continuing.

"According to Miller, Finn made threats passive aggressive punishment if I was rude to Clarke which I'm sure wasn't just a threat. It's something to look forward to in the near future. Anyway what time do you want me to collect you?" he changed the topic.

"Maybe by 2am at the latest, but I'll send you a text or give you call. You can take a nap for at least two hours," Octavia wasn't ignorant of the fatigue lines under her brothers' eyes. It was probably why Bellamy wasn't interested in going to the party even though his friends were likely to be there.

"Thanks O. Have fun – don't hook up with anyone," Bellamy warned Octavia as she started exiting the vehicle. Octavia just rolled her eyes and ignored him. 'Anyone who said that relationships were black and white clearly needed to do some fact checking' Octavia thought as she followed Clarke's route along the front path. She definitely loved her brother but boy did she hate him sometimes.

"He's a bright ball of fun," Clarke said tentatively as if she wasn't sure how to talk about Bellamy to Octavia.

"That's Bellamy, always having fun," Octavia snorted. Her brother loved to spend time with his friends – he had two particularly close ones called Miller and Murphy, but he was often busy with work and didn't get much free time. Octavia hoped that now that her Mum was living with Jake, Bellamy would get some more time off to see his friends and study. She didn't want her brother flunking.

"I think we're all grumpier today, maybe tomorrow he'll be less annoying?" Clarke sounded a little hopeful. Octavia outright laughed at that. The idea of her brother suddenly becoming less surly was jarring.

"Come on Princess," Octavia grabbed the wrist of the girl standing next to her and lead the way into the party.

Once they were inside the music was louder, but Octavia could still hear herself think which was nice. She loved loud music, and every time she went to a party it felt like the first time, but Octavia loved being able to hear herself think just as much as she liked louder music.

"Well, at least you're friends with Finn – he knows how to throw a decent party even if he isn't as smart as you," Octavia said to Clarke upon their entrance.

The people near the entryway looked shocked by the two new additions to their party. Clarke wasn't such a surprise since everyone knew that she and Finn were dating and Octavia wasn't such a surprise because she and Bellamy had been friends with Fin since their youth but the fact that Clarke Griffin and Octavia Blake had arrived together was clearly causing a stir.

"I hope you appreciate my coming with you," Octavia said above the music. "I might become a social pariah."

"I seriously doubt it," Clarke yelled back, "but thanks."

Octavia glanced around the room, looking for people she knew. She thought she saw her brother's friend Murphy but the person was on the other side of the room with a large group blocking Octavia's eye line. She cast her eyes around the room once again. She saw her friend Monroe making out with someone in a corner, no surprise there. Monroe would kiss just about anyone, but never anything more than that. She was quite firm on the subject of the home run – it had to be the right person.

Octavia spotted Clarke's friends as well when they made their way further into the house. Tahlia and Glass, Clarke's female friends were standing in a small group off to the side with three others – all boys who Octavia knew.

There was Wells, who clearly had a crush on Clarke but either Clarke was too thick to notice – which Octavia doubted, or she had firmly placed the boy in the 'friendzone'.

The next was Luke – the boyfriend of Glass. The two of them had been dancing around each other for about two years before they started dating, it had been a little frustrating. Octavia knew Luke well – he had sat with her group at school for nearly three years, and he'd constantly been pining for his now girlfriend. He'd tried dating other people but that hadn't turned out well for him. In the end, he had finally asked Glass out and now they were going strong. They seemed to be fairly serious too because the last time Octavia had spoken to Luke he had mentioned that they two of them were thinking of applying for the same universities next year.

The third was a boy called Sterling in the grade below them. He didn't have a huge amount of friends, but he was nice enough. His father was a detective who had worked on the city bombing case several years before which had brought Sterling positive attention in the schoolyard, since then he'd made more of an effort to be social and fit with the 'in' crowd.

Clarke turned to Octavia and motioned to her friends – an invitation to join them. Octavia sighed; she probably wasn't going to hook up with anyone tonight it would seem. At least someone would be happy about that. Octavia followed Clarke to the group of people and found out why they were here. It was quieter in the lounge – possibly because the speakers were in another room.

"Hi Octavia," Luke smiled in greeting and Octavia was pleased that she knew Luke. She felt a little out of place in the nerdy group. She felt a little out of place in the nerdy group. They weren't in the higher class of nerds she conceded but they sure weren't in the top social strata.

"Hi everyone," Octavia turned on her charm, no one could resist. Everyone in the little group returned the hello tentatively. Sterling in particular seemed shy – often the kids in the grade below were like that.

The group made polite conversation for a while – as best as it was able given the loud music, until Octavia decided that it was time to go search for her own crowd.

Octavia took her leave as quick she could while trying not to be rude. Clarke nodded in understanding and turned back to her group. Clearly she wasn't majorly disappointed by Octavia's departure. Octavia turned, and went on the prowl.

Almost as soon as she left Clarke's side there were people approaching her. A few were people she knew from class, but couldn't put names too. She just ignored them – they were all plastered and it wasn't even midnight yet. Tacky.

To Octavia's happiness, she had seen Murphy earlier because she bumped into him on her way to visit Monroe – or at least the spot she had been in half an hour before.

"Hi Murphy," Octavia smiled at her brother's friend.

"Octavia!" Murphy leaned back into the exclamation, flung his arms wide and flashed the girl a wide grin before going in for a hug.

"You're wasted Murphy!" Octavia returned the hug, and patted him on the back.

"Hell yeah! You should be too!" Murphy yelled over the music in drunken delight.

"Where are the drinks?" Octavia asked.

Murphy pointed to a crowed corner.

"Thanks!" She patted him on the shoulder this time before walking away. Murphy was hilarious drunk. The boy was deadpan when sober, but get him drunk and he could be the life of a party.

She wended her way through the crowd to the drinks table and once she had her drink she returned to the dance floor. Octavia stayed in that general vicinity, dancing with her friends for almost an hour.

She was pulled from her enjoyment when she spotted Clarke on the outskirts of the room – the girl appeared to be looking for someone. Wondering if it might be herself, Octavia made her way over to the blonde.

Clarke smiled when she saw the girl, but it appeared Octavia was not the person Clarke was looking for.

"Have you seen Finn?" Clarke leaned forward and yelled over the music. Octavia shook her head.

"Sorry," Octavia replied. "I'll help you look though."

The party animal didn't mind the idea of a quick break from dancing. One boy whose name she didn't know had been getting a little up-close and personal for Octavia's liking.

"I'll look upstairs," Octavia pointed to the floor above and gestured to the crowed room. "You keep looking downstairs." She pulled out her phone and waved it "text if found."

Clarke smiled and nodded. It could be difficult understanding other people in parties due to the loud music be it appeared that Octavia had got her message across. The girls went their separate ways, and Octavia made her way through the crowd to the stairs.

The stairs were another issue entirely, on the right hand side – where the wall as, stood several couples that were drunkenly kissing. These groups took most of the space and forced Octavia to squeeze against the banister on her ascent. When she reached the landing, her eyes darted around the space.

No Finn.

'He must be in a room,' Octavia concluded. She went around opening doors until she found a bedroom. In inside were several people, who all looked upset in one way or another. Octavia even recognized them.

Finn, Wells, Sterling and a guy called Myles was there as well. It appeared that Finn and Wells were in a heated argument.

"You're a disrespecting asshole!" Wells was saying.

"That's rich coming from the jealous best friend," Finn scoffed. It seemed that the two arguing boys hadn't noticed her arrival – but Myles and Sterling had. The two of them looked more uncomfortable than they had already. Octavia didn't know how it was that those two boys happened to be the ones with Finn and Wells when they were fighting but clearly they were not the best ones to calm two angry males. Sterling wasn't going into the police force like his father any time soon.

"You're just hooking up with her so that she'll help you pass your exams 'cause you're too much of an empty-headed arse to do it yourself," Wells accused.

"Not anymore!" Finn retorted, much to Octavia's morbid interest, she knew who they were talking about – who else could it be but Clarke?

That was when Wells took a swing at Finn. He missed by an inch because Myles pulled Finn backwards by the shirt.

Octavia stepped forward.

"That is enough!" She snapped, her tipsy state erasing any fears she may have had about stepping into the middle of a fight fueled by testosterone.

"Everyone has been drinking, stand down before someone gets hurt!" Octavia took over the situation. She might not have been able too if the boys had been more inebriated but they retained some of their higher brain functions – and after Octavia had stepped between Finn and Wells, Sterling and Myles had stepped forward as well – eager to make sure that Octavia didn't get hit by any flying fists. Finn and Wells were outnumbered.

"You don't deserve her," Wells snapped and walked out of the room.

"Snob," Finn called after Wells. Sterling and Myles rolled their eyes.

"Eloquent," Octavia raised an eyebrow at Finn. "You going to run for President with speech like that?"

"Piss off Octavia," Finn shoved her out of the way. "I didn't even invite you, why are you here?"

"Clarke invited me, she is my new roommate now or didn't you hear?"

"Clarke is here? I didn't know," Finn looked surprised. Octavia was impressed that he didn't know his girlfriend had been at his party for an hour already.

"She couldn't exactly call you, since her dad took her phone…Oh," Octavia remembered waving her phone at Clarke saying she would text when she found Finn. "I forgot about that before. Anyway, she's looking for you downstairs."

Finn nodded and headed for the door.

"Hang on Finn," Octavia said, in a tone that spoke volumes.

Sterling and Myles sped for the door. They didn't want to be around a grumpy Octavia.

Octavia closed the distance between them. "You dated my sister and broke her heart. While didn't disagree with your breaking up with her, I didn't like that you made her sad. I'm sure that you are well aware that Clarke and I aren't friends but," Octavia looked Finn in the eyes, all seriousness. "Let me make myself clear, if you hurt that girl's feelings I will tell all of your weaknesses to her brother, and to my brother and you will regret the day that you messed with us."

"It's not like that anymore," Finn defended himself.

"It better not be," Octavia stated.

"Why do you even care?"

"Clarke doesn't seem like the sort of people that deserves a jerk, and my sister certainly didn't deserve one," Octavia broke eye contact and walked out of the room.

"Come on, the Princess is looking for you," Octavia paused in the doorway before making her way back to the stairs.

_Hi everyone, hope you enjoyed! I'll try and update again soon. Moving countries is keeping us pretty busy but Xmas is coming up so I'll get a chance to do some __writing. _

_Speaking of which - Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you all enjoy the time with friends and family._

_Don't forget to leave a review ;)_

_LT xox_


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